The Fountain of Life

Transcription

The Unofficial Savage Worlds Fanzine™
Volume 2, Issue #1
Contents
Talisman Tales: The Birth of Shaintar
Shaintar, Savage Worlds’ first open fantasy setting ............. 2
Talisman Tales
Wisdom of Heroes ..................................................................... 3
Savage OGL? Not!
Why Savage Worlds will never have an OGL .......................... 6
Adding Panache to Your Powers
Using trappings to spice up your powers ............................... 8
A Curious Dame and a Pulpy Game
The Ravaged Earth Society: Genesis of a pulp setting....... 10
Lester Dent’s Master Plot Outline
Writing the perfect 6000-word pulp story ............................. 12
Plan Before You Publish
Questions every author should ask ...................................... 14
Power Armor 101
Spiffing up power armor ......................................................... 16
A Mysterious Man in the Corner…
A plethora of NPCs for use in any setting............................. 18
More Bang for the Jungle
New weapon stats for Tour of Darkness ...............................20
An adventure for 50 Fathoms ................................................. 21
May, 2006
From the Editor:
Welcome back, Loyal Savages! Shark Bytes has returned with a
vengeance! This new incarnation of the fanzine you’ve all come
to know and love is leaner, meaner, and more streamlined than
its predecessor. No longer will you have to deplete an entire ink
cartridge in order to print an issue. No longer will you wait months
for new gaming material, wondering if Shark Bytes is dead or if JB
has just burned out again! I’m here to tell you—Shark Bytes is alive
and swimming!
We’ve got a ton of new material in the works, and an entire staff
of Contributing Editors dedicated to knocking it into shape. Don’t
think you’ll have to wait six months to see it, either—submissions
classified as nibbles (i.e., submissions too small for a full-blown
article, but too good to pass on altogether) will be made available
as quickly as we can post them at www.sharkbytes.info.
Are you a budding author who wants to see your own material
within these pages? If so, just go to the Shark Bytes website, click
on “Contacts,” and e-mail your material (being sure to include your
full name, e-mail address, and Pinnacle Forum username) to the
appropriate editor. We’ll take it from there. Don’t be shy! Shark
Bytes has always been “by the fans, for the fans”, and that’s how
we mean to keep it!
It’s been a week since I took the reins as Shark Bytes’ Assistant
Editor, and the experience so far reminds me of the penultimate
episode of The Prisoner, in which Leo McKern intones in a
stentorian voice: “One week, my boy. One teeny-weeny week.
Degree Absolute.” The work has been exhausting, but also
absolutely rewarding.
Special thanks to Matthew Mather for giving me the chance to help
out, to JB Littlefield for providing guidance and artwork galore,
and to Simon, Shane, Cheyenne, Storn and Niklas for being so
generous with permission to use their artwork. I could not have put
this issue together without the Contributing Editors; their work has
been invaluable.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get The Drop on the next issue.
Credits
Editor-in-Chief: Matthew Mather
Assistant Editor: M. A. Cutter
Contributing Editors: Robby Anderson, Eric Avedissian,
Bryan Botz, Bob Bretz, Markus Finster, Marc Hameleers,
Christian Johnson, Bill “JB” Littlefield, Rick Petersen,
Wayne Ratley, William Reger, Benjamin Rogers, Mark
Swafford, and James Witherspoon.
Artists: Niklas Brandt, Storn Cook, Cheyenne Wright
Webmaster: Peter Leitch
Shark Bytes, Vol. 2, Issue #1
M. A. Cutter
Assistant Editor
May 22, 2006
Shark Bytes is an unofficial, not-for-profit fanzine produced by and
for fans of Savage Worlds—Pinnacle Entertainment’s role-playing game
of fast, furious fun. Pinnacle is in no way associated with the publishers
of this fanzine and should not be held responsible for its contents.
Savage Worlds, Smiling Jack, and any other associated trademarks
or logos remain the property of PEG, Inc. and are used here with
permission. Everything contained herein is considered unofficial unless
explicitly stated otherwise. All artwork appearing in this issue of Shark
Bytes is the property of the Pinnacle Entertainment Group, Inc. or
from the public domain, unless noted otherwise, and is used herein
with permission. All articles and artwork remain the property of their
copyright holders.
1
Talisman Tales
The Birth of Shaintar
Savage Worlds’ first open fantasy setting
by Mark Swafford with Sean Patrick Fannon
fter assuming the responsibility of writing this column
for Talisman, I spoke with Sean Fannon and Aaron
Acevedo about what to write for the premiere issue. Aaron
said he wanted to push Shaintar: Immortal Legends, first
and foremost. I agreed. Sean said I should write about the
little things that we did in our own Shaintar campaign, like
using glass beads and M&Ms as Shaken markers. He said,
“Write about using the three-prong plastic thingy you get
with your pizza or empty dice cubes as flight tables. Talk
about the truly awesome food and beer we used to consume
in mass quantities whilst gaming.”
A
Although these were great points to talk about, I felt the story
of Shaintar needed be told first. Not the timeline of the ingame story, but the actual life of the game and how it came
about. However, I didn’t think my words were sufficient to
tell its story, so…I cheated, and pinched the following from
Sean’s personal blog:
At some point in 1977, while I was in the 7th grade, I came
across an article in GAMES Magazine that discussed this
amazing new kind of game. The writer had been invited
to participate in a session of Dungeons & Dragons™, and
his experiences filled my head with wonderment and, more
importantly, all kinds of ideas on how a game like that might
play out in my own hands.
I entered the role-playing hobby in a completely different way
from most people. The usual means is to hook up with some
people, usually through a friend, and become a player in an
existing group. In 1977, in Cobb County, GA, there weren’t
many existing groups for a game that had only just come
out and was trickling through the retail chains and hobby
shops (bearing in mind that, back then, the hobby shops
were mostly for your model train and rocket enthusiasts and
wargame aficionados).
consistent and make a certain kind of sense, playing by a set
of rules that could be at least conceptually understood.
After a long flirtation with a space-fantasy setting I created
called Starchasers, which featured the same rules I had used
for fantasy gaming (and where I created the winged race
that I now call the Aevakar and the lizard-folk Dregordians),
I discovered the Hero System through Champions and
Fantasy Hero. As clever as some of the things I had done
were, here was a really well-done, professionally-designed
game system that I could really sink my teeth into and create
a lot more ideas with. Thus began my eternal hunt for “the
right system” to publish Shaintar with.
Of course, there was still no Shaintar at that point. It was
the late 80s, and my return to fantasy gaming heralded the
creation of a setting called, simply, “the Realm.” The “To
Catch a King” storyline was played out there, and to this day
it remains one of the greatest gaming experiences of my life.
Within that crucible was born some of my very best ideas,
as well as a few not-so-great ones. The second campaign in
that setting was also pretty damn good, but some things were
starting to show wear at the seams as I tried to expand the
Realm. At the end of that tale, I realized that it was time.
Time to start anew.
I don’t remember what year it was, but there was a huge ice
storm. There I was in Bogart, GA (outside of Athens). One
of my very best friends, Brandon Biddy, had actually driven
in from Atlanta for the express purpose of being snowed in
with me and my wife at the time, Cheryl. As we whiled away
the hours and days together, I broke out some hexagonal
graph paper and began to draw a map. Cheryl and Brandon
kibitzed, making sure my rivers flowed the way they should
and that I had created the right topographical conditions for
a giant desert. Thus, Shaintar was born.
Not having the benefit of a body of existing players to
introduce me to the intricacies of the game, I had my mom
take me to Spencer’s Gifts at the mall, where I purchased
one of the original boxed sets of Dungeons & Dragons™
(the one with the powder-blue book inside with the same
art as the box cover). I read it cover-to-cover multiple times,
formulated in my head how the game seemed to work, and
began recruiting my friends to start playing.
Keep on the Borderlands became the center of our gaming
universe. I never really used anyone else’s world, though,
always thinking of things in terms of my own creative
space. Showing the instincts of a game designer early on, I
tinkered with the rules pretty heavily by the time I was in high
school, eventually even running my own variant set. Terms
like Eldakar (for the pure-blooded Fae) and Adepts began
to emerge, as did the idea that magic should be internally
2
Talisman Tales
Wisdom of
Heroes
by Mark Swafford
horg Firearm ran a piece of cornbread around the rim of
his plate, sopping up the last bit of red gravy. Eldkossa,
the heavily spiced dwarven beef roast, was a favorite dinner
of his as a child and, although this meal wasn’t prepared
by a dwarf, the smell and taste still took him back to those
easygoing days. The old dwarf popped the cornbread into
his mouth and wiped the gravy from his lips with the sleeve
of his shirt. The spice and peppers ran through his blood,
and brought a flush to his face.
T
“Ah, there’s the fire,” proclaimed the dwarf.
“Had enough?” asked the Olaran barmaid.
“Aye lass, more than enough.”
“That’s three copper then, dwarf.” While many would find her
words abrupt, and maybe a little insulting, Thorg knew better.
Olarans weren’t known for their diplomatic skills. Olarans
were straightforward. Thorg admired that about them, for
dwarves were the same way.
“One second, lass,” he said, and reached for his purse. A
shock ran up his left arm and Thorg grunted in pain.
The old warrior stretched and let the joint pop.
He eased back into his chair and sighed
heavily.
“Need the healer, dwarf?” asked the
barmaid.
“Nay, just a friendly reminder of how
old I’m getting. That’s three copper
you say?”
The barmaid nodded.
“I’ll pay his tab for him, m’lady,” said
a light tenor voice. A silver coin
plinked down on the table.
She turned at the sound. A man, not
yet eighteen years of age, sat down
opposite Thorg. The barmaid scooped
the coins into her gloved hand and
eyed them cautiously.
“I promise the coins are good,” the young
man said.
The woman, speaking as much to herself as
anyone, said “You never know when some scum will
try and pass off pewter coins as silver.” She nodded to the
dwarf, adding, “Tell me if you need anything else, Thorg.”
“Aye, lass. And thank you, lad.” Although Olaran women were
taller and broader than most females on Shaintar, there was
still a sway in this woman’s hips that brought a wry smile to
the dwarf’s face. Thorg rose from his chair and made his
way to the fireplace across the room. The young Freelander
noticed the aging dwarf moved with a pronounced limp.
“Consider it payment, sir,” the youth called out, but not yet
crossing to the fire.
The dwarf raised both of his eyebrows at this, then pulled out
a small pouch of tobacco and filled his wooden pipe with the
pungent leaves. Soaked in wine spiced with cinnamon and
clove, the smell soothed Thorg’s nerves.
“Payment for what, lad? I’ve not offered items or services for
barter.” Thorg pulled a small branch from the fire to light his
pipe. He puffed enough to let the tobacco glow in the bowl,
drinking in the sweet scent.
“I require wisdom,” the young man dared. “Wisdom from a
hero.”
Thorg Firearm limped his way back to the table and gingerly
sat down in his chair. “And what makes you think I’m a hero,
farmboy?”
“I…how did you know I was raised on a farm?” the Freelander
asked.
“Your tan skin and sun-bleached hair means you’ve spent
many an hour in the sun. Your shoulders are the size of
cannonballs, which says you’ve done hard labor for most
of your life. Your hands are calloused, which means you’ve
worked them well, but there’s no scars on your arms, so
you’ve never been in a fight.” The dwarf stroked his salt and
pepper beard. “You are a farmboy.”
His ego wounded, the young man puffed his
chest, proclaiming, “I’ve been in a fight. I’ve
been in a lot of fights.”
“Oh, really? Tell me about these battles
then. They must truly be grand.” Thorg
smirked at the boastful boy.
“I fought down a bully in my town. I
smashed his head with a rock and
opened a big cut on his forehead.
One of his friends tried to interfere
but I punched him and broke his
nose.”
The dwarf belched up a huge
cloud of smoke and began to laugh
heartily. Tears pooled in the corners
of his eyes. “Oh lad, I haven’t laughed
so hard in all my life.”
The young man’s eyes narrowed on the
old man. “I killed a minotaur once,” he said
bitingly.
The dwarf wiped his eyes off with his sleeve. “Oh
ho? A minotaur, you say? Tell me.”
“This big bull-man ran into my village, swinging his giant axe.
He killed a lot of people.” The young man paused. “He gored
my father and slung his body into a bog.” Forcing himself
not to tear up, the youth continued, “Then he came for me. I
pulled my dagger from its sheath. The thing slipped in a pool
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of blood and fell on top of me.” The man’s tenor voice grew
softer. Almost off-handedly, he added, “The dagger slipped
through his ribs and punctured his heart.”
Thorg looked at the boy again. “So you killed a minotaur.”
The young man nodded.
me is pure rubbish.”
“You have to be lying, sir. I paid this man a good silver to
hear the story of how you slew two gargoyles with just your
shield.”
Again the youth nodded.
The dwarf coughed, swallowing the bile that ran up his throat.
“I beat two gargoyles,” he cried incredulously, “with just my
shield?” Thorg turned his head to the ceiling in frustration,
then asked, “Boy, have you ever seen a gargoyle?”
“By accident?”
The farmboy shook his head.
The boy raised his head, glaring angrily at Thorg. A moment
more and he stood, loosed a short sword from its scabbard,
and held it threateningly at the dwarf.
“Their claws will flay a man’s skin from his bones with one
swipe of its hand. Its stony skin will stop any sword bite save
for magic ones. If it were ever to sink its teeth into you, it
would hold until you die, long after it has broken bone. If you
ever meet one underground, you best pray for a swift death.
It blends with the stone so well you’ll likely never see it until
it’s too late.” Thorg sighed, offering, “Even if you were to hurt
one, farmboy, it’d just take wing, fly off, and fight another
day.”
“With your knife?”
“Why do you mock me?” he challenged. “I would run you
through.”
The dwarf sighed and tapped out his pipe. “Son, put away
your pig sticker before I bend you over my knee and spank
you with it.”
The young man quivered for a moment before thinking better
of the situation and sliding his sword into its sheath.
“Now sit down,” Thorg chided.
The young man sat, chagrined.
“Just what wisdom are you looking for?”
“I want to become a hero,” the youth said.
“Why?” asked Thorg simply.
“Because heroes are admired,” the young man stated, as
if it were common knowledge, “They’re rich, and songs are
sung of them. They get all the glory, and they always get the
woman in the end.”
Chided, the boy hesitated to speak further. Seeing the pause
in the youth’s face, Thorg asked the young man’s question
for him.
“And the women?” Thorg planted his left foot on the table
and pulled back his pants leg to reveal a wooden leg, the
end covered by a leather shoe. “What woman would want to
bed a hero with a monstrosity like this? Or this?” The dwarf
rolled up his left sleeve. The skin on his arm looked as if
melted wax had been poured on and left to dry. “Women just
love the sight of burned flesh, don’t they boy?”
The young man wasn’t the only patron in the inn to grow
slightly sick at the sight.
“Really?” the dwarf smiled, “No one told me about this. I
should really talk to somebody about it.”
“Sometimes at night, I can still smell the flesh cooking,”
Thorg added.
“Are you mocking me again, sir?” the youth asked.
The farmboy covered his mouth and clutched his stomach
to quell the nausea.
“No. I’m mocking the stories you may have heard about
being a hero. You think heroes are rich?” Thorg pulled out
his purse and dumped its contents onto the table. Seven
coins—three copper, three silver, and one gold—bounced
on the hard wooden table. “You think I’m a hero now?” he
said, his voice becoming harder. “This is all I have to my
name, boy.”
“But the songs…”
The dwarf interrupted, “There are no songs sung about me,
farmboy.”
“Y…yes there are,” the Freelander protested, “I heard one.
A few months back, I did. I was in Shan and there was this
bard there…”
Frowning, Thorg questioned, “Was he round, wearing garish
blue robes? Did he lisp when he talked?”
“Yes, sir,” the young man said, “Yes he did.”
The dwarf repacked his pipe. “I hate to burst your bubble,
boy, but I know the charlatan. His name is Elon Brightly, and
his ego has ever more substance than his stories.” Thorg
grimaced, adding, “Whatever song he may have sung about
The dwarf called out to the barmaid, “Tilya, get this young
man a drink before he gets sick on your floor.”
The Olaran lass drew a mug of beer from the keg behind the
bar. The smell of it was enough to catch Thorg’s own thirst.
“Best make that two, Tilya,” he added.
Tilya nodded and grabbed another mug. When she brought
them to the table, the young man grabbed one and gulped
down half of what it held.
“Slow down, son,” Thorg cautioned. “Drink too fast and you’ll
be twice as sick as what you’re trying to prevent. What is
your name anyway, son?”
“Andrew,” the young man offered, “Andrew Benfellow, from
Fadrin.”
“Fadrin?” Thorg reflected. “Nice place. Why did you leave?”
The young man shrugged his shoulders. “After my father
was killed, there was no way I could keep the farm going
by myself. So I sold it to one of our neighbors. I decided to
take the money and journey the world to see what was out
there.”
4
“And what have you found?” the dwarf asked.
“So it all depends on what people think a hero is?”
Andrew sighed. “Very little, sir. Lies and backstabbing,
mostly. I really don’t know who I should trust and who I
shouldn’t. It’s all so confusing.”
Thorg cocked his head and shrugged his shoulders.
“True, true. You’re just young and gullible, my friend,” said
Thorg, smiling at thoughts of himself when he was the same.
“Learning who to trust will come with time and experience. In
the meantime, I can only say: Trust no one.”
“But how can one go through life trusting no one? It doesn’t
seem like much of a life if you can’t put your faith in others.”
“That bard you met in Shan? That Elon Brightly fellow?” The
dwarf paused long enough to savor a drink. “Should you
have trusted him?”
Andrew sighed, saying, “I guess not.”
Thorg continued. “Has there been anyone you’ve
met in your travels that you’d fully trust?”
“No, sir,” said Andrew, defeated.
Andrew frowned in thought. “You think I should have kept my
family’s farm going, don’t you?”
“I think you should follow your heart, son.” The dwarf settled
back in his chair. “Is your heart really into traversing the
world and seeking your fortune?”
The young man thought for a moment. “I don’t know.” He
cast his eyes downward.
“Where is your heart?” The dwarf narrowed his eyes
thoughtfully at the young man.
“I don’t know. I just know it’s not at the farm.” The youth
looked up, as if starting to understand. “It’s just not my home,
not anymore.”
Thorg nodded and lifted his mug again. “I guess
it’s true then.”
“What’s that, sir?”
“As well you shouldn’t.” With this, the
dwarf took a long draw off his mug.
“Mind you, I’m not saying there aren’t
ones out there worth your trust. Just
be wary of the ones who want your
company so much. Usually they just
want your purse…”
“Home,” the dwarf said, the hint of a
smile in his eyes, “is where the heart
is.”
“Yes sir, it is.” Andrew smiled. As
he stood, he placed another silver
piece on the table.
“What is that for?” Thorg asked the
young man, one eyebrow raised in
curiosity.
The dwarf puffed his pipe, adding,
“…or worse.”
The young farmboy crossed his
arms on the table and leaned in
towards the dwarf. “What about my
original question, sir? How do I become
a hero?”
“I can’t answer that, son,” Thorg said flatly,
“No one should be able to.”
“Why not?”
The dwarf drew a deep breath from his pipe. As he blew the
smoke aside he said, “Let me ask you this question: what
makes a hero?”
The young man shrugged. “He saves the damsel in distress.
He’ll jump in front of an arrow to protect his friend. He’ll slay
a monster to save a village.”
“Aye, admirable traits all. But do you know what makes a
hero to me?”
Andrew shook his head.
“A hero is the constable who will wade into a bar fight without
knowing who’s armed and who’s not. A hero is the priest who
keeps preaching when no one hears his words. The farmer
whose crops don’t give the harvest he wanted, but can still
feed his family during hard times. That’s what makes a hero
to me. The everyman that doesn’t seek the glory and doesn’t
get songs sung about him, but keeps facing adversity head
on.” The older man raised an eyebrow the younger man. “It’s
not what you do that makes a hero, it’s how it’s done...and
why.”
“For the ale,” Andrew said, “and for
your wisdom.”
The dwarf nodded and puffed on his pipe
again. Andrew turned when he noticed
Tilya had walked up behind him. He planted
a kiss on the barmaid’s cheek as he turned to
go. The Olaran woman scowled but couldn’t help
but smile when his back was turned. Thorg Firearm chuckled
quietly. Andrew made his way to the door, stopping just as
he grabbed the handle.
“Sir, I just want you to know something before I go.”
The dwarf nodded.
“I still consider you a hero.” Not waiting for a reply, Andrew
Benfellow opened the door and passed through.
“And you’re my hero, too, old dwarf,” Tilya said, leaning over
to kiss Thorg on the head as she moved past.
The dwarf huffed and shooed the barmaid away with a wave
of his hand.
“Oh, shut up,” he chided, but still smiling himself.
Tilya deftly scooped up the coins as she walked away,
laughing, leaving the dwarf to his pipe, his ale, and thoughts
of his next adventure.
5
Savage OGL? Not!
Why Savage Worlds will never be
released under an OGL
by Shane Lacy Hensley
Reprinted with Shane’s permission from a post he made
on the Pinnacle Forum in response to the query as to why
Savage Worlds was not an “open system”.
I will right off the bat
admit that I liked the
industry before far better
than after. This has a lot
to do with my personal
tastes and I readily admit
that. Pinnacle certainly
didn’t embrace The
Change the way others
did, and from a business
point of view, there’s no
one to blame but me. In
my opinion, the the OGL
not only focused the
industry away from other
games, but also from
other genres. A book for Deadlands just wasn’t getting on a
shelf if there was a new book on dwarves, elves, etc. Since
these things didn’t interest us in the least, we didn’t do them
and thus weren’t in a position to ride “the wave.” Let me say
once more to avoid the inevitable response—I realize this
is purely my decision/fault, and I don’t blame anyone for it. I
sure didn’t like it, though.
More objectively, the flood of D20 products overloaded the
stores. They were then full up with product (which wasn’t
Shadowrun, Deadlands, etc.), and couldn’t devote shelf
space to anything else. When demand for D20 started
to wane, they were in such poor financial shape with all
the unsold D20 material that they couldn’t order anything
new. Many concluded that RPGs were dead (the common
“wisdom” outside of Wizards of the Coast) and just stopped
carrying us. At our height with Deadlands, our “turnout”
peaked at 51%. That means 51% of stores who report to
Comics Retailer said they carried at least one Deadlands
product. That was back in the days when most of us think
that we were everywhere (but I visit game stores everywhere
I travel, and can personally attest that the 51% rate was
probably more like 25%—WotC, White Wolf, and the store
owner’s favorite system was more often than not the norm).
Remember I owned two stores for 10 years too, and could
attest that even our sales on everything but the top two lines
were weak. As a quick aside, this experience is what led me
to embrace the internet and direct sales very early—as early
as 1997. While this has kept us afloat, it’s resulted in a selffulfilling cycle that’s hard to break.
On another personal note, the tone of the industry changed
dramatically. It had been a friendly network of people who
had risen through the ranks as freelancers, learned from
those with more experience, and finally became accepted
by the “old timers”—Bill Slaviscek, Nigel Findley, and the
owners of the various game companies such as West End
Games, FASA, White Wolf, etc. That’s certainly how I, Robin
Laws, Matt Forbeck, etc., came to be where we are. But the
OGL allowed people to skip the informal training part of the
industry and go straight to publishing. While this certainly
sounds like sour grapes, I think this new way of doing things
produced a different kind of author who didn’t have the same
outlook or sense of community that the rest of us did. Before
the influx of OGL people, the private industry lists were all
extremely good-natured. We all knew each other so the
usual internet anonymity didn’t exist. Say something nasty
and you could bet the next GenCon party was going to be no
fun for you. Now there were literally hundreds of newcomers,
and a sadly large percentage of them were rude and could
care less what the others thought. Of course a few were
fantastic, but they were the exception rather than the norm.
Free country and all, but the industry changed quickly, and
most of us old timers were not happy with the way things
were turning out.
By this time there were literally hundreds of “crunch” (splat)
books. Everywhere you looked D20 Gamemasters were
saying “only official WotC books” could be used in their
campaigns. Who could blame them? Some of the stuff out
there was absolute crap, and the easiest way to sort through
the chaff was to just stick with WotC, which was (supposedly)
play-tested and certainly better thought out than most of their
competitors. The benefit to publishers who did well with D20,
like Green Ronin and Fantasy Flight Games, was quickly
waning and even they quickly changed their tactics (Green
Ronin with Mutants and Masterminds, which isn’t really D20,
and Fantasy Flight moving back to board games). Really
great and different ideas—like Atlas’ Nyambe—sold poorly,
even though it was exactly the kind of product retailers said
they wanted, but then didn’t buy. Go figure!
With such stagnation in types of material (compared to a few
years prior), I think interest from you guys and gals bottomed
out. There just wasn’t anything new to visit the game store
for if you weren’t a solid Dungeons & Dragons™ type, so
sales in general continued to decline.
So now, in my humble opinion, the industry wasn’t as fun
anymore and sales were in the toilet unless you were in the
right position to do D20 fantasy. There was a small movement
to explore areas outside of fantasy, and we tried to embrace
that. Deadlands wasn’t our best effort—but there’s more to
that story than most know—and then Weird Wars, which I
think is a fine game. Both sold extremely well (Deadlands
D20 sold over 10,000 copies and Weird Wars sold 8,000),
but our choice to release these D20 games had unforeseen
consequences: people thought we had stopped making
Deadlands Classic, and reported to stores that we were out
of business as well. I even had a “fan” insist that we had
stopped making Deadlands Classic at Origins, even though
I had two new books there to prove him wrong!
Things were certainly tough, but we managed to get out
Black Circle, Lone Stars, and Great Weird North, plus a
few other projects, during this horrible time (including Lost
6
longer the bread-and-butter they used to be. Minis are doing
well, but it’s really hard to stock them right. And now PDFs
are becoming serious competition as well (which is why we
release PDFs after our books hit the stores now, except for
“support material” like adventures which the stores wouldn’t
order anyway).
So much for the gloom and doom. The good news is that
“old games” have returned. Shadowrun is doing great, as
is GURPS and Palladium’s ever-present RIFTS. Certainly
Savage Worlds is doing well, and Deadlands looks like it
might sell out before it hits the U.S. (Woot! Grab ‘em fast!)
The future will be very different for RPGs, I suspect.
Our model will be to release core books into the stores and
continue trying to support them. That’s the best of both
worlds so long as we can give them products they’ll stock
and you’ll buy. But if they don’t order our stuff, and there’s
obvious demand from you we’ll do whatever it takes to keep
paying our bills.
Colony, which John Hopler finished up on his way to a new
career). But the damage was done and this was the final nail
in the coffin. We stopped making Deadlands Classic books,
I closed down the office, and started working at home with
fulfillment companies handling all the shipping, orders, etc.
(first Fast Forward, and then Studio2).
I wanted a new start, so I began working on Savage Worlds
(then called Wild Cards). I also developed three pre-painted
(non-collectible) games and two card games, but I just
couldn’t get the capital to make them happen. One of those
developed into Fields of Honor, with battle flats replacing the
pre-painted minis (also a result of our continued success
with PDF sales). The other ideas I’m still working on, but will
have to wait until the stars are in the proper alignment.
From WotC’s point of view, the OGL was a decent success.
They could eliminate two-thirds of their staff and concentrate
on selling PHBs and DMGs over and over (which Ryan
Dancey had identified as their best path to profit). Oddly,
after he and WotC parted company, they walked an odd
line they previously had said they wouldn’t—producing new
worlds (Eberron) and making adventures and other odd
projects (the Book of Vile Darkness, Sandstorm, etc). There
is a lot of talk that WotC will pull the OGL with the release
of the next edition of Dungeons & Dragons™. I don’t want to
start rumors—you can find that all over the net, but it is an
interesting idea since Ryan is no longer with them and was
by far the “face” of the entire movement.
From an industry point-of-view, check out your local store.
They still have lots of RPGs on the shelves, but how many
of them are new? Most stuff I see is banged up crap from
3+ years ago that they (oddly!) won’t discount and blow out.
(Bad idea, retailers! Get that stuff out of there and buy NEW
stuff that WILL sell!) The common store is in bad, bad shape.
There are no breakout games right now, and RPGs are no
That’s why I think the OGL hurt the industry. It’s one half
of the reason we won’t do OGL for Savage Worlds. And
let’s be realistic—it wouldn’t be that big anyway because
we’re not Dungeons & Dragons™ (not D20—but Dungeons
& Dragons™). Combine that with the absolute crap some
people would make, and there’s just no upside for us. Work
with us and we can make sure that every product that comes
out with the Savaged! logo on it is good, if not absolutely
fantastic!
OPEN GAMING RESOURCES
The idea of open gaming was around before the OGL and
it will continue to exist even if the rumors regarding Wizards
of the Coast’s intent to pull the OGL with the next release of
Dungeons & Dragons™ turn out to be true.
The following links should give you a starting point for further
investigation of open gaming.
Open Gaming at Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_gaming
Free RPG Community
http://www.freeroleplay.org/
Open Publication License
http://www.opencontent.org/openpub/
Creative Commons
http://creativecommons.org/
The GNU Project
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/licenselist.html#
Other Licenses
Wizards of the Coast OGL
http://www.opengamingfoundation.org/ogl.html
Popular Games Based on the D20 SRD
http://www.darkshire.net/~jhkim/rpg/srd/gamelist.html
7
Adding Panache to Your Powers
Using trappings to spice up your powers
by Colin Chapman
M
agic is a cornerstone of fantasy role-playing.
Unfortunately, despite its being of such importance to
the game, all too often magic is described with no more flair
than, “I cast a fireball.” As this article explains, spellcasting
is easily made more exotic and interesting, thus enriching
the role-playing experience in the process. Although the
concepts described hereafter are applicable to any Arcane
Background, I have chosen to focus on the Fantasy genre,
and thus refer to “powers” as “spells.”
Describing the Spell
You know what spell you want to cast, and who you want to
target. You could simply leave it at that; however, by actually
describing your spell’s casting and appearance you are able
to turn even the most common spell into
something of wonder..
•
Appearance: What
exactly does the spell
look
like?
What
substance forms
its
physical
aspects?
A
blast
spell
with a fire
trapping, for
example,
need not
look like a
simple ball
of flame—
it
could
manifest
as a flaming
skull, a pulsing
fist, a glowing
phoenix, etc. It’s
still a fireball, but
it need not look so.
Consider the color or colors
of the spell. Where magic is
concerned you need not adhere to
the expected. Why not make the fireball eerie
green, pale blue, or even pink?
•
Motion: If the spell has to cover a distance, how
does it do so? Does it simply appear, or does it have
to travel to its target? Once again, using the fireball
example, does it fly through the air, and if so, does it fly
straight, spiral, or zigzag? Does it simply appear out of
nowhere and engulf the target? Does it bounce or roll
along the ground?
•
Sound: Sound accompanies the casting of many
spells, and can range from the tinkling of bells to the
rumble of thunder, from echoes of chilling laughter, to
the crackle and sizzle of energy. Once again, giving
just a little thought to this aspect of your spell gives
it much more depth. The sound need not necessarily
match the spell—why not have the fireballs sing as
they fly through the air? Be creative!
•
Smell: Describing the scent of the spell can
make it seem far more real to the other players. Once
again, its scent, if indeed there is any, can be unique or
unexpected. For example, a fireball may well smell of
brimstone, but it could just as easily smell of lavender,
dung, or anything else you desire.
Naming the Spell
A well-described spell can be
made to seem even more
unique and impressive
if it’s given a different
name (although to
avoid confusion,
the
original
power’s name
should always
be
placed
in
brackets
afterwards)—
for example,
Serleran’s
Searing
Orb
[blast]. Given
the eccentricity
and egotism of
many wizards, it
is hardly surprising
that even the most
mundane of cantrips often
bear flamboyant titles. Precious
few magicians, having spent weeks
(or months) creating a new spell, would
give their unique creation a humdrum name like fireball.
Instead, they would make it grandiose, taking pride in their
personal achievement. Giving a newly-created spell a good
name is satisfying and easy.
•
Descriptive Title: The most vital part of any spell,
the name often describes its effects, appearance, or
results, and in many cases, a truly evocative name is
all that’s needed to make a spell sound fantastical. For
example, while fireball accurately describes a spell that
produces a ball of fire, it is hardly flamboyant. Take a
second to think of alternate or related words that can
8
be used to describe the same thing. In this case, words
such as flaming, blazing, incendiary, conflagrating,
scorching, burning, searing, and lambent, as well as
sphere, orb, and globe, are appropriate substitutes for
“fire” and “ball.” Searing Orb sounds far more exotic
than Fireball, don’t you think? If you haven’t already,
invest in a good thesaurus!
•
Creator’s Name: A common practice, especially
as regards the more egotistical or famous wizards,
is that of appending a personal name to the front of
a spell’s title. For example, an infamous pyromancer
named Serleran may very well have created the
Searing Orb spell, and named it
Serleran’s Searing Orb.
Making magic memorable takes imagination and a little
thought, but the results are always worth it. Such efforts
entertain both the GM and the other players, and will certainly
enrich the game (and perhaps even garner some additional
XP for role-playing). Anyone can say “I cast a fireball! A ball
of fire flies forth and strikes my target!” However, if you bellow
“I invoke Serleran’s Searing Orb! A ball of vivid green flame
spirals swiftly through the air, shrieking, with the scent of
brimstone in its wake!” you’ve just made the tired old fireball
exciting, and its magic truly magical—as it should be!
•
Embellishment:
Wizards
sometimes
add
extravagant
descriptors to a spell’s title,
particularly if they’re especially
proud of the spell or excessively
egotistical (as many wizards are).
For example, Serleran might add a
word such as excellent, magnificent,
superior,
superlative,
brilliant,
triumphant, etc. to the spell’s title.
His spell might therefore be named
Serleran’s Superlative Searing
Orb.
•
Spell,
Incantation,
Dweomer: Another common
convention is an actual referral
to the spell as being a spell,
placed before or after the main
description. For example, Serleran
might name his fireball, Serleran’s
Searing Orb Spell or The Spell
of Searing Orbs. Alternately, he
might choose to use a different
word, such as dweomer, charm,
glamour, or weird.
9
A Curious Dame and a Pulpy Game
The Ravaged Earth Society: Genesis of a pulp setting
by Eric Avedissian
he big city, wet from the rain, began closing down for the
night. The summer heat filled the lungs of the millions
of doomed souls lost amid the concrete and iron jungle.
Savage animals clawed their way towards the subways and
bus stops to escape the rain. Twilight gave way to black
night. A night lit by neon and bathed in the glow of lovers
and losers, of passion and despair. Somewhere a gunshot
rings out. Near the bus station, a drunk finds a quarter on
the sidewalk. In a dank alley a painted lady sells her body
for a ten dollar bill. The big city has its own language, its
own temperament. Only by adapting can one ever hope to
survive. I had decided to kick back at my desk with a flask
of whiskey when she walked through the door. I noticed the
heady scent of her perfume before I even looked up. “Are
T
you open?” she asked, her voice sensual and rich, but with
a hint of fear. The voice of a girl who’d gotten in way over
her head.
I looked up and saw her brunette hair, her full red lips, and
her shapely nylon-covered legs. The black dress she wore
left a lot to a man’s imagination, and I had plenty of that.
“I’m open all night, doll,” I answered. “How can I help?”
“I’m in trouble and I don’t know where to turn,” she said,
sitting in the chair across from my desk. “I heard you were
good at fixing things.”
“I have my moments,” I replied coolly.
She opened her purse and removed a tin cigarette case. Her
slender fingers opened the case and pulled out a gasper. An
angel with a tobacco habit.
“Mind if I smoke?” she asked. “I didn’t mean to be so
presumptuous.”
I walked over to her and leaned on the desk. I produced my
lighter and flicked it open. Her enchanting eyes gazed up at
me while she leaned closer to light her cigarette, her hand
trembling.
“Thank you,” she said, puffing quickly.
“Now maybe you can cut through all this mystery and tell me
who you are and how I can be of assistance.”
“I’m Valerie,” she said, her voice like silk. “Valerie Van Vos. I
understand you investigate the strange and unusual.”
“You’d be right about that, doll. That’s my bag,” I said,
swallowing my last gulp of whiskey. “Is Something bothering
you? Something that goes bump in the night?”
“You might say that,” she said. “Can you help?”
I drew close to her so that our lips were almost touching.
Valerie’s smoky breath grew faster, more excited. We gazed
in each other’s eyes; she appeared panic-stricken, like a
trapped rabbit.
“Please,” she whispered. “Please…help me.”
“Relax, doll,” I said, “You ever hear of The Ravaged Earth
Society?”
“No,” Valerie stammered. “The Ravaged Earth Society?
Who are they?”
“Not who, dollface. What,” I said. “It’s a role-playing game
published by Double G Press.”
“Role-playing game?” Valerie said. “I…I don’t understand.”
I sat back down at my desk and opened another bottle of
whiskey. Then I grabbed a tumbler and offered her a drink.
“Relax, dollface. You’ve got a lot to learn,” I said as I poured
the drinks.
10
The idea for The Ravaged Earth Society, or TRES as we like
to call it, appeared in my mind during the summer of 2001.
I’d been trying to develop a role-playing game ever since
becoming addicted to the Pinnacle Entertainment Group’s
Deadlands game. There’s so much I liked about Deadlands,
and still do: the use of history and horror, the epic story line,
the plethora of characters and events.
These things made Deadlands unique among RPGs, at least
as far as I was concerned. My early design efforts lacked
focus and depth. I experimented with a comedy superhero
game. Let’s just say that it was really awful, and leave it at
that. Then I thought about the world of pulp. I enjoyed its freeflowing form, its emphasis on action and adventure and its
over-the-top heroism and villainy. I imagined Flash Gordon
meets Indiana Jones all wrapped up within a giant plot
involving Martians, robots, and daring aviators. I immersed
myself in the genre by watching old movies and reading all
the pulp I could get my hands on.
Throughout this experience, the one nagging question that
kept popping into my head was, “How would I pull this off?”
What RPG system would be able to handle the pulp visions
that were dancing through my head? Wizards of the Coast
had released the D20 System—as well as a pulp add-on
from the pages of Polyhedron; however, the system just
didn’t feel right for what I had in mind. I wasn’t very familiar
with too many other systems, so I put my dream on the back
burner and reluctantly let real life intervene. I shelved a file of
rough drafts, character sketches, and ideas in a filing cabinet
where I stored all of my unfinished works—and there are
many, unfortunately.
It looked like Ravaged Earth would end up being just another
daft, fanciful dream. Another unfinished manuscript in a long
line of the same. Then 2003 rolled around and everything
changed. Pinnacle, the company that gave us Deadlands,
published Savage Worlds, a game using an underlying
system similar to that found in the Great Rail Wars. It was
flexible and expandable. I liked the way it handled combat
and character generation. In the summer of 2003 I posted
several files for a game I called Ravaged Earth—A Game
of Weird Pulp Action to the Savage Worlds group on Yahoo.
Besides a description of the game, I included character
backgrounds and powers for super humans, gadgeteers,
mentalists, and magicians. I got a lot of positive feedback and
interest from these postings, but nothing really developed
beyond the feedback.
In late 2004, after dropping off the face of the Earth, I returned
to the Savage Worlds Forum and had an opportunity to
submit the first Ravaged Earth adventure to Shark Bytes,
an unofficial Savage Worlds fanzine edited by JB Littlefield
(hereafter referred to as Bill). The adventure, The Quest for
El Dorado, was published in the third issue of Shark Bytes.
In late December, Bill asked if he could publish Ravaged
Earth as a licensed product. He and Peter Leitch had
started a game company called Double G Press and wanted
Ravaged Earth to be their “flagship product.”
contracts in January, got the license from Pinnacle in March,
and spent the rest of that year writing the sourcebook.
It’s been an interesting and informative experience, to be
sure. Most pregnancies happen in nine months. When this
baby’s born, it’ll slap you back! The Ravaged Earth Society
is filled with action, adventure, and thrills. It’s all about overthe-top action and making the fantastic possible. It is truly
worthy of the Savage Worlds slogan “Fast! Furious! Fun!”
I can just hear you all now. “Yeah, sure, you say that, but why
should I plunk down my heard-earned dough for this game?”
Well, besides using the Savage Worlds system we all know
and love, TRES contains alternate rules for cranking up
the pulp factor and making it even more exciting: like using
bennies for dramatic editing for a more cinematic feel to the
game. How about a new passel of Edges and Hindrances?
Weapons and gear from the 1930s. More powers than you
can shake a magic wand at. Rules for building robots and
fantastic vehicles. An epic story line involving Martians,
weird science, magic, monsters and Nikola Tesla. A Rogues
Gallery of horrible creatures, major villains, gangsters, and
cultists for you to battle. How’s that for starters?
Here’s the icing on the cake: go to the Double G Press
website at www.doublegpress.com and register as a
member. It’s free, and by registering you’ll get access to all
kinds of exclusive content and goodies.
“And that’s the whole story, dollface,” I said. Valerie took the
last drag of her cigarette before crushing it on the desk.
“Sounds like a pretty big workload you have,” she said
seductively.
“You have no idea,” I replied. “I’m working on writing
adventures, articles and NPCs for TRES. And Bill made me
a Shark Bytes editor with my own column, to boot. I call it
Fedoras, Fists and .45s.”
“Catchy title.”
“Thanks, dollface,” I said, draining the whiskey bottle. “You
know, I could use some help. We need submissions for
Shark Bytes. Any adventures, adventure seeds, cool NPCs,
Edges, Hindrances, powers; heck, anything catering to the
weird and pulpy world of TRES. I need those submissions
e-mailed to [email protected]. Include your
name and e-mail.”
Valerie rose from her seat and walked over to me, her hips
swiveling with a mesmerizing rhythm that would melt a lesser
man. Her hungry hand reached for my chest and she drew
herself closer. “So are you interested in taking my case?”
she whispered in my ear.
“Not now, dollface,” I said, pushing her away and turning
towards my laptop. “I have to check my e-mail. I’m expecting
a lot of submissions any time now.”
How could I say no to that? One of the greatest opportunities
of a lifetime had fallen into my lap and I took it. We negotiated
11
Lester Dent’s Master Plot Outline
Writing the perfect pulp story in 6000 words
by Lester Dent
A
s an aspiring Pulp fictioneer (or Pulp adventure writer),
you could do worse than to take the advice of Lester
Dent, one of the most prolific writers of the Pulp Era. He
once claimed that no story written following his Master Plot
Outline ever failed to sell.
Approached by Henry Ralston, an executive at Street &
Smith (the creators of The Shadow), in 1932 to write about
a new character they were developing—Doc Savage—Dent
wrote at least two Doc Savage stories each month, for
each of which he was paid between $500 and $750 (quite
a large amount in the 1930s). Between 1933 and 1949, he
wrote over 150 of the 181 book-length Doc Savage stories
that were published! For those not-in-the-know…Kenneth
Robeson, was the name Dent used to write these stories.
Introduction
This is a formula, a master plot, for any 6000 word pulp story.
It has worked on adventure, detective, western and war-air.
It tells exactly where to put everything. It shows definitely
just what must happen in each successive thousand words.
No yarn of mine written to the formula has yet failed to sell.
The business of building stories seems not much different
from the business of building anything else. Here’s how it
starts:
•
A DIFFERENT MURDER METHOD FOR
VILLAIN TO USE
•
A DIFFERENT THING FOR VILLAIN TO BE
SEEKING
•
A DIFFERENT LOCALE
•
A MENACE WHICH IS TO HANG LIKE A
CLOUD OVER HERO
One of these different things would be nice, two better, three
swell. It may help if they are fully in mind before tackling
the rest. A different murder method could be—different.
Thinking of shooting, knifing, hydrocyanic, garroting, poison
needles, scorpions, a few others, and writing them on paper
gets them where they may suggest something. Scorpions
and their poison bite? Maybe mosquitoes or flies treated
with deadly germs?
If the victims are killed by ordinary methods, but found
under strange and identical circumstances each time, it
might serve, the reader of course not knowing until the end,
that the method of murder is ordinary. Scribes who have
their villain’s victims found with butterflies, spiders or bats
stamped on them could conceivably be flirting with this gag.
Probably it won’t do a lot of good to be too odd, fanciful or
grotesque with murder methods.
The different thing for the villain to be after might be something
other than jewels, the stolen bank loot, the pearls, or some
other old ones. Here, again one might get too bizarre.
Unique locale? Easy. Selecting one that fits in with the
murder method and the treasure—thing that villain wants—
makes it simpler, and it’s also nice to use a familiar one,
a place where you’ve lived or worked. So many pulpateers
don’t. It sometimes saves embarrassment to know nearly as
much about the locale as the editor, or enough to fool him.
Here’s a nifty much used in faking local color. For a story
laid in Egypt, say, author finds a book titled Conversational
Egyptian Easily Learned, or something like that. He wants
a character to ask in Egyptian, “What’s the matter?” He
looks in the book and finds, “El khabar, eyh?” To keep the
reader from getting dizzy, it’s perhaps wise to make it clear
in some fashion, just what that means. Occasionally the text
will tell this, or someone can repeat it in English. But it’s a
doubtful move to stop and tell the reader in so many words
the English translation. The writer learns they have palm
trees in Egypt. He looks in the book, finds the Egyptian for
palm trees, and uses that. This kids editors and readers into
thinking he knows something about Egypt.
Divide the 6000 word yarn into four 1500 word parts. In each
1500 word part, put the following:
The First 1500 Words
First line, or as near thereto as possible, introduce the hero
and swat him with a fistful of trouble. Hint at a mystery, a
menace or a problem to be solved—something the hero has
to cope with. The hero pitches in to cope with his fistful of
trouble. He tries to fathom the mystery, defeat the menace,
or solve the problem.
Introduce all the other characters as soon as possible. Bring
them on in action. The hero’s endeavors land him in an actual
physical conflict near the end of the first 1500 words. Near
the end of first 1500 words, there is a complete surprise twist
in the plot development. Does it have suspense? Is there a
menace to the hero? Does everything happen logically?
At this point, it might help to recall that action should do
something besides advance the hero over the scenery.
Suppose the hero has learned the dastards of villains have
seized somebody named Eloise, who can explain the secret
of what is behind all these sinister events. The hero corners
villains, they fight, and villains get away. Not so hot. The
hero should accomplish something with his tearing around,
if only to rescue Eloise, and surprise! Eloise is a ring-tailed
monkey. The hero counts the rings on Eloise’s tail, if nothing
better comes to mind. They’re not real. The rings are painted
there. Why?
12
until—surprise! The glass pane falls out of the big window
across the room. It must have fallen slowly, and air blowing
into the room caused the door to open. Then what the heck
made the pane fall so slowly? More mystery.
Characterizing a story actor consists of giving him some
things which make him stick in the reader’s mind. Tag him!
Build your plots so that the action can be continuous!
The Third 1500 Words
Shovel the grief onto the hero. The hero makes some
headway, and corners the villain or somebody in: A physical
conflict. A surprising plot twist, in which the hero preferably
gets it in the neck bad, to end the 1500 words.
Does it still have suspense? The menace getting blacker? The
hero finds himself in a hell of a fix? It all happened logically?
These outlines or master formulas are only something to
make you certain of inserting some physical conflict, and
some genuine plot twists, with a little suspense and menace
thrown in. Without them, there is no pulp story.
These physical conflicts in each part might be different, too.
If one fight is with fists, that can take care of the pugilism
until next the next yarn. Same for poison gas and swords.
There may, naturally, be exceptions. A hero with a peculiar
punch, or a quick draw, might use it more than once.
The idea is to avoid monotony: Action, atmosphere, and
description. The secret of all writing is to make every word
count!
The Final 1500 Words
Shovel the difficulties more thickly upon the hero. Get the
hero almost buried in his troubles. (Figuratively, the villain
has him prisoner and has him framed for a murder rap;
the girl is presumably dead, everything is lost, and the
different murder method is about to dispose of the suffering
protagonist). The hero extricates himself using his own skill,
training or brawn.
The Second 1500 Words
Shovel more grief onto the hero. The hero, being heroic,
struggles, and his struggles lead up to: Another physical
conflict and a surprising plot twist to end the 1500 words.
Does the second part have suspense? Does the menace
grow like a black cloud? Is the hero getting it in the neck?
Is the second part logical? Don’t tell about it! Show how the
thing looked. This is one of the secrets of writing; never tell
the reader—show him. (He trembles, roving eyes, slackened
jaw, and such.) Make the reader see him!
When writing, it helps to get at least one minor surprise to
the printed page. It is reasonable to expect these minor
surprises to sort of inveigle the reader into keeping on.
They need not be such profound efforts. One method of
accomplishing one now and then is to be gently misleading.
The hero is examining the murder room. The door behind
him begins slowly to open. He does not see it. He conducts
his examination blissfully. Door eases open, wider and wider,
The mysteries remaining—one big one held over to this
point will help grip interest—are cleared up in course of final
conflict as hero takes the situation in hand. Final twist, a
big surprise, (This can be the villain turning out to be the
unexpected person, having the “Treasure” be a dud, etc).
The snapper, the punch line to end it.
Has the suspense held out to the last line? The menace held
out to the last? Everything been explained? It all happen
logically? Is the Punch Line enough to leave the reader with
that warm feeling? Did God kill the villain? Or the hero?
Editor: The contents of this article were posted to the alt.pulp newsgroup
in October, 1995 by Jason A. Wolcott; and were taken from Bigger than
Life: the Creator of Doc Savage, by Marilyn Cannaday (Bowling Green,
Ohio: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1990), a biography
of Lester Dent. It is reprinted here without permission—no challenge to
its copyright status is intended or inferred. The wording—offbeat and
stilted as it is—is, to the best of our knowledge, Dent’s.
13
Plan Before You Publish
Questions every author should ask
by Levi Kornelsen
W
How are behaviors and styles of of play
rewarded or punished in the game?
What is the game about?
Some game resources, and some forms of “healing,” will
only be possible to gain through social contact, some with
teamwork, and some with others which are bickering-andtension-related.
hat follows is solid advice for anyone thinking about
writing or publishing a role-playing game or supplement.
Personally, I wouldn’t put pen-to-paper without first making
sure that I could answer all of these questions. Doing so
could save you a lot of headaches on down the line!
The Pulse is set after an apocalyptic event that has terrible
effects on the human mind. This is a game about survivors.
In the sense of surviving under hardship. In the sense of
surviving prison. In the sense of ‘a rape survivor’. This is
a game about people that are hurt, hungry, damaged,
hardened, and hanging on to life and love with a whiteknuckled grip.
What do the characters do?
They barter, wander, fight, lead, follow, negotiate, starve,
eat, drink, burn, rest, bleed, go mad, stave off madness
through companionship, and sometimes, they die. They get
caught up in small-group conflicts that are fueled by scarcity,
hardship, and a need for companionship that is sometime
slighted—sometimes explosively so.
What do the players, including the GM (if
there is one), do?
They players, including the GM, work together to drive the
characters into and through their hardships, actively bringing
out the issues that plague these characters in situation-based
play. The GM has and uses the rules to generate situations
driven by scarcity that will hit on these issues, hard.
How does the setting, or lack thereof,
reinforce what the game is about?
The Apocalypse itself is the result of a solar accident—
something is wrong with the sun. Something magnetic and
complicated, that caused seizures, killed people, wiped out
electronics, and drove everyone feral for months. The only
way to remain stable is to avoid being alone too long. Of
course, there isn’t enough of anything, and you can’t trust
anyone.
How does character creation reinforce
what the game is about?
The focus of the mechanics will be in highlighting what things
the character can give a group of survivors in the setting,
what they need from others in it, and the issues that drive
them to and away from other survivors.
What types of play styles does the game
reward (or punish)?
How are the responsibilities of narration
and credibility divided in the game?
The game will use a GM that has general ownership over
the current situation itself; players will have fairly standard
levels of character ownership. The game setting outside
these things will be open for input to everyone, and details
of the situation that are mainly flavor will also be open for
input from everyone. Credibility is based on a consensus led
by the GM, informally.
What does the game do to command
attention, engagement, and participation?
All situations will have elements of danger to the characters—
psychological as well as physical. Almost all situations will
also have potential rewards available. The group of players
as a whole will constantly need to choose what kind of
dangers they wish to face; they’ll usually have a lot of choice,
but every path is dangerous.
What are the resolution mechanics of the
game like?
A poker-hand-like mechanism I’m building out of another
system of mine, with a few twists—when a character ‘pushes’
with a trait, they also increase the backlash they face.
How do the resolution mechanics reinforce
what the game is about?
There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch. Characters will
often be packing around little injuries of various kinds—
physical, social, psychological, you name it.
Do characters in the game advance? If so,
how?
Yes. That’s gonna see some changes. Advancement and
Backlash are going to get tied in—a little like Fallout in Dogs
in the Vineyard, but only a little.
How does character advancement, or lack
thereof, reinforce what the game is about?
Advancement is tied strictly to conflict and risk. Advancement
isn’t actually going to be possible without risking injury of
some kind (be it physical, mental, or any other form).
Having a variety of approaches available through teamwork
will be rewarded. Internal conflict at a low level in the group
will be rewarded. “Lone Wolf” behavior will be punished.
14
What sort of product or effect do you want
the game to produce for the players?
Where does the game take the players that
other games can’t, don’t, or won’t?
I want the players to feel that the world is terrible. I want
them to know that they can’t live without each other. I want
them to feel their characters wavering between becoming
too hard to stay sane, and too sympathetic to stay alive, and
needing to make choices right there.
Guilt. Every character in the game has done wrong. Horrible
wrong. They need to live with it. They need to forgive
themselves. They need to forgive each other. They can never
forget. It gives reasons to struggle against both sympathy
and becoming hardened.
What areas of the game receive extra
attention and color? Why?
What are your publishing goals for the
game?
The conflict system for the game will allow for any form of
conflict, and will require “antes” and “bets” for injuries in any
conflict. Injury types described will encompass several kinds
of physical, mental, and interpersonal trauma.
I intend to write The Pulse and to format it as a digest-sized
book. I may self-publish, or may accept an offer from a smallpress company that’s interested in “imprinting.”
Scarcity. All situations will be created from a base of scarcity.
The whole “Western” vibe. Because all of those play together
in my head to make a space for something where players
can be assured that their characters are cool and badass—
and then let that stand as backdrop for them to hit things that
aren’t hard or badass at all.
Which part of the game are you most
excited about or interested in?
The altered resolution mechanic, which will hopefully look
and feel like playing a hand of poker for high stakes. The
idea of stripping everything down to bare fundamentals, in
so many different ways, both in the rules, the setting, all of
it.
Who is your target audience?
Players that want to play in a game that clearly defines a
situational style of play based on hardship, and want support
for a level of intense decision-making not normally available
in mainstream games.
Editor: These questions were lifted from a thread started by Levi
Kornelsen over on RPGNet. For those of you that don’t know, Levi is the
author of Perfect 20, an implementation of the popular D20 System™
that seeks to break the D20 SRD down to its simplest form. It’s worth a
look, even if you aren’t a D20 fan. Just swing by Levi’s website: http://
members.shaw.ca/LeviK/Perfect20_2005.pdf.
This article uses a game Levi is in the process of developing—The
Pulse—in all of the examples.
15
Power
Armor
101
House rules for using power
armor in Savage Worlds
by C.A. Pryde
T
he Savage Worlds rulebook describes three basic types
of powered armor for infantry: Scout, Battle, and Heavy.
This article offers expanded descriptions and additional
options for all three types of armor. I have written this
supplement as a set of “house” rules; therefore, this material
has not received any sort of approval or input from the
authors of the Savage Worlds system. It should not in any
way be construed as a set of “official” rules or a product of
Pinnacle Entertainment Group, Great White Games, or any
affiliated organization.
Fitting
Powered armor is meant to fit like a second skin, albeit a very
bulky second skin, and allow an almost complete range of
natural motion for the wearer. Powered armor carries its own
weight (effectively negating the weight penalty described in
the core rules for unfitted armor), but wearing poorly-fitted
armor still causes problems. A poorly-adjusted suit of armor
confers a –2 penalty to the Pace of the wearer. The bulky
suit also reduces the wearer’s range of motion so that a –1
penalty to all Agility checks and Agility-based skills is applied.
Finally, wearing the armor quickly gets uncomfortable. The
wearer suffers one level of fatigue for each day spent in the
mismatched suit, plus a second level immediately following
any battle fought in the armor. Characters can recover
one level of fatigue for each hour spent out of the powered
suit. These fatigue levels could potentially incapacitate a
character.
Wearing armor is uncomfortable, even when the armor fits
well and has a regulated environment. Much of the discomfort
is psychological—it results from the wearer’s inability to do
routine things, like scratch an itch. Characters encased
in powered armor accumulate one level of fatigue after
spending a day in the armor. This fatigue level will go away
if the character spends an hour out of the powered armor;
GMs should not apply this fatigue level if it will incapacitate
the character. Characters will never accumulate more than
one fatigue level in this fashion.
Power
Mechanized battle armor uses a modular power system with
a set of removable power cells. Suits of powered armor are
supplied with multiple batteries. This means that units in the
field can replenish their suits’ energy quickly, by swapping out
power cells, rather than having to wait through a recharging
process. Given the proper tools, replacing a spent power
pack requires only five or ten minutes. With successful
Repair check, a good mechanic can rush the process and
accomplish it in one minute. Power cells can also provide
energy for other pieces of equipment.
The Savage Worlds rulebook mentions that most powered
armor can function for about a week before running out of
power. It also states that combat will reduce this duration. As
an elaboration of this rule, powered armor uses up half an
energy cell for each day of operation. Battle suits and heavy
suits are each equipped with four power cells; scout suits
carry six cells. This means that a battle suit will run for eight
days on four fully-charged cells. If a character engages in
more than two full rounds of combat in a given day, the suit
depletes a full energy cell. Constant running combat thus
effectively reduces a suit’s energy supply by half. You could
obviously take this energy concept a bit further and create
some more specific rules and situations for power cells, but
I suggest not trying to make things too complicated, in an
effort to preserve to the “Fast! Furious! Fun!” aspect of the
game.
Specific Armor Notes
Scout Suits
Scouts rely on stealth to keep them alive on the battlefield.
Many scouts carry special camouflage blankets made
with strips of color-changing material; once deployed,
these “ghillie” blankets provide extremely effective visual
camouflage to supplement the suit’s electronic stealth
features. Deploying a ghillie blanket takes two rounds. As
long as the scout does not move from her location, the
blanket grants the scout a +4 bonus to Stealth rolls against
observers (but not automated detection systems).
Battle Suits
Battle suits turn regular soldiers into supermen; they make
a warrior faster, stronger, and tougher. Several variations
exist for traditional battle armor. Soldiers operating in nontraditional environments (underwater, weightless on a space
station, or ascending cliffs in mountainous terrain) often
refit their suits with special systems. A suit refitted for space
combat will mount a small thruster pack with maneuvering
jets. Troopers operating in mountainous terrain often equip
their suits with special grapple lines and climbing gear.
To represent these alterations in the game, the GM will need
to make a few minor adjustments to the standard battle suit
rules. Troopers in specially outfitted battle suits do not gain
the normal bonuses to Pace and jumping. Instead, they gain
alternative movement abilities. It falls to the GM to fit specific
abilities to specific situations. As an example, though, a
suit configured for underwater combat might move in any
direction at half the wearer’s normal pace. A battle suit fitted
16
with climbing equipment might grant the wearer a +4 bonus
to climbing checks, as though he is using advanced climbing
gear, and such a suit could negate the need for climbing
checks in many circumstances.
Heavy Suits
Heavy suits often provide the fire support for their smaller
brethren. This usually means equipping the suit with a
heavier version of the traditional weapons: a heavy machine
gun, plasma cannon, or bazooka. Fire support, however, is
only one of several roles that a heavy suit can fulfill.
Units in field combat have many significant non-combat
needs: medical care, engineering support, long-range
communications, command-and-control, and the like. With
their upgraded carrying capacity and computer systems,
properly-outfitted heavy suits can help to fulfill many different
roles. Field medics can go into battle carrying advanced
diagnostic tools and special supplies. Officers can equip
themselves with upgraded information systems that help
them to monitor and direct their soldiers. Engineers can pack
along the special tools that allow them to assess and repair
the most common battlefield suit malfunctions and damage.
And a heavy suit can support the bulky transmission
equipment required for orbit-to-ground communications or
long-range laser or radio contact.
Altering an existing heavy or assault suit for specialty use
requires only a slight modification of the existing rules.
Start by working out the job description that the suit’s
wearer will fulfill: demolitions expert, communications
tech, combat medic, or whatever fits the situation. Then
take away the heavy suit’s normal +2 Shooting bonus and
reapply that bonus to another skill consistent with its new
function—healing, communications, or repair, for example.
This alteration represents the replacement of the targeting
system with other relevant tools, such as technical manuals
and diagnostic systems. Finally, downgrade the suit’s heavy
weapon to a normal weapon (such as a battle suit would
carry), and treat the heavy suit as instead carrying special
equipment appropriate to its function. A communications
officer might carry a folding satellite dish for ground-to-orbit
transmissions, while a demolitions expert might pack along
detonators and charges.
17
A Mysterious Man in the Corner...
A plethora of NPCs for use in any setting
by William Reger
Tomas “Cutter” Cain
Wild Card/Extra Background: The local crime boss known as “Cutter” Cain started
on the docks as an enforcer. He was smart enough to realize this career was not
good for the long run and took over for his boss upon his boss’s sudden retirement.
Having built a solid enforcement organization, Cain used it to take control of all the
smuggling done in this port city. Now those who want to ship illegal goods, and legal
goods safely, have to go to one of Cain’s agents. Big shipments go through Cain
himself. Cain has dark, tousled hair, black eyes, is reasonably young (late 20s) and
ambitious.
Rank: Seasoned; XP: 20
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d8, Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d8
Skills: Fighting d8, Guts d6, Intimidation d6 (+2), Knowledge (Smuggling) d6, Notice
d6, Persuasion d6, Stealth d4, Streetwise d6, Swimming d4, Taunt d6 (+2)
Pace: 6”; Parry: 6; Toughness: 6 (+ Armor bonus); Bennies: 3; Charisma: +0
Edges: Level Headed, Strong Willed
Hindrances: Bloodthirsty, Cautious, Quirk (tells a victim what he is going to do to them before trying to do it)
Special Abilities: None.
Gear: Nice clothes, has leather armor (or a bulletproof vest) under his shirt (torso only), hidden knife (Str+1), silvertipped sword cane (as Rapier), several trained bodyguards, and access to his organization and its funds for purchase of
weapons and extra muscle, if needed.
Myra Morningstar
Wild Card/Extra Background: Myra is a local waitress at one of the most popular bars in portside. She is attractive,
witty and quick. She turns down more offers in a single night than most girls get in a lifetime. If you can get past her coy
shell you will find a woman who keeps her ears open and looks out for her friends.
Rank: Novice; XP: 0
Skills: Fighting d4, Guts d6, Healing d4, Intimidation d6, Notice d6, Persuasion d6, Stealth d8, Streetwise d6
Pace: 6”; Parry: 4; Toughness: 5; Bennies: 3; Charisma: +2 (looks)
Edges: Alert, Attractive
Hindrances: Curious, Loyal, Vow (Minor, won’t settle for just any man)
Gear: $500, waitress outfit
Attia Hessa
Wild Card/Extra Background: Attia Hessa is a charismatic young black woman who makes her living telling fortunes
above a magic shop. Some say she is a fraud, while others swear she can foretell the future. Whatever the reality, things
happen when Attia is around and she is very convincing.
Rank: Novice; XP: 5
Skills: Faith d8, Guts d6, Healing d4, Investigation d6, Knowledge (Occult and Paranormal) d6, Notice d6, Persuasion
d6, Stealth d4, Streetwise d6
Pace: 6”; Parry: 2; Toughness: 5; Bennies: 3; Charisma: +2
Edges: Arcane Background: Miracles (Voodoo; Powers: burst and spirit touch (see special abilities)), Charismatic
Hindrances: Pacifist (Major)
Special Abilities: Draws the Storm (An uncanny knack for drawing events to happen to her and everyone around her);
Power: spirit touch; Novice, Power Cost 3, Duration 3 (1/round), success contacts a spirit willing to talk, on a raise you
contact the spirit you are seeking. On a 1 you contact a hostile spirit who will attempt to possess you! You must have a
focus to draw a specific spirit. Treat the spirit as a neutral extra and try to persuade information from him.
Gear: $500, soothsayers outfit, fortune-telling paraphernalia (tarot cards, crystal ball, etc.)
18
Sheriff James Jackson
Wild Card/Extra Background: This small town sheriff comes across as a nice man, looking out for his townsfolk and
keeping the undesirables from staying in town. The civic community loves him and everyone says he is a hard-working,
almost driven man, especially since his wife was killed by a passing drifter. What the community doesn’t know is that
the Sheriff killed his wife when she found out about his secret life and framed the drifter for the crime. The Sheriff is the
masked leader of a secret organization called “The Wild Hunt.” They believe hunting intelligent creatures like men is the
best way to keep fit and strong. They lure wanted men and drifters to town, and then kidnap them and set them “free” in
their preserve for the hunt.
Rank: Veteran; XP: 45
Skills: Driving (or Riding) d6, Fighting d8, Guts d6, Intimidation d6, Investigation d6, Knowledge (Law) d6, Notice d6,
Persuasion d6, Shooting d8, Stealth d8, Streetwise d6, Survival d6, Tracking d6
Pace: 6”; Parry: 6; Toughness: 6 (+2 Armor bonus); Bennies: 3; Charisma: +2 (when dealing with average law-abiding
citizens)
Edges: Connections (Locals trust him), Connections (The Wild Hunt: large area, few but powerful members)
Hindrances: Overconfident, Vengeful (Major)
Gear: $100, normal clothes, body armor (chainmail or bulletproof vest), saber or machete, badge, handcuffs or rope,
Pistol (with holster and five magazines) and Shotgun (or Crossbow with bolts).
Natasha Comuniski
Wild Card/Extra Background: Natasha learned early that her only love was power. With power you could harm those
who displeased you and reward those who did not. The only power a person could get was what they could take, for
power was never given. Natasha turned her natural charms to building her personal empire. She sought out elderly males
with wealth but little sense, seduced them and murdered them, taking their wealth to aid in the next hunt. Now she is
fabulously wealthy and has begun her next stage, the control of her personal kingdom.
Rank: Veteran; XP: 50
Skills: Fighting d6, Guts d6, Healing d6, Investigation d6, Knowledge (Drugs) d10, Notice d6, Persuasion d8, Shooting
d6, Stealth d6, Streetwise d6
Pace: 6”; Parry: 5; Toughness: 5; Bennies: 3; Charisma: +2
Edges: Attractive, Charismatic, Filthy Rich
Hindrances: Greedy (Major), Vengeful (Minor) and Wanted (Minor; after her first murder she was accused but skipped
town with the loot, changed her name from Hilldrake to Comuniski, and now is wanted for trial. She secretly seeks to have
the witnesses—everyone at the wedding—killed.)
Gear: She wears the newest fashions and has expert help in her makeup. She usually has several drugs in her purse and
knows how to mix them to form knockout and poison mixtures. She will also carry a hidden dagger and a small pistol (if
available). She has access to the fortunes of several victims.
Jeremy
Wild Card/Extra Background: Jeremy is the typical old salt found hanging around ports and other transient locations.
He is gruff, smells bad, and generally invisible to those who are not looking for him. Still he knows what is going on, where
it is going on, and often who is involved. For the right price, generally a bottle or hit for his habit, he will be happy to let
you in on the local happenings!
Rank: Novice; XP: 15
Skills: Fighting d8, Guts d6, Notice d8, Persuasion d6, Stealth d6, Streetwise d6, Survival d8, Tracking d8
Pace: 6”; Parry: 4; Toughness: 5 (+1); Bennies: 4; Charisma: –2
Edges: Alertness, Urbansman (as Woodsman but applies in urban areas only)
Hindrances: Elderly, Poverty, Habit (doesn’t bathe often), Habit (minor, legal drug)
Special Abilities: Blends into the Background (Treat as invisible –4 notice unless you are looking specifically for him!).
Survival works for finding “free” food in the urban areas (cities) for Jeremy.
Gear: $5, layered mismatched clothes, a hit of his habit, a dagger and a dirty pack.
19
more bang for the jungle
New weapon stats for Tour of Darkness
by Markus Finster
In the Player’s Guide to Tour of Darkness, some weapons are mentioned without having an entry in the gear list. Here are
stats so you can outfit your players or Charlie with additional weaponry! Missing stats? That’s a load o’ bull!
Some of the weapons mentioned can be found in the Savage Worlds rulebook. These are: M2(HB), M1919, the Flamethrower
and the MP-40.
The RPD machine gun
The RPD is a belt-fed machine gun formerly manufactured in the Soviet Union and China. It can be fired from a prone
position with the built-in bipod, or from the hip with the aid of a sling. It is fed by refillable non-disintegrating links. In
Vietnam, you’ll find the Chinese-manufactured Type 56. It was later superseded by the newer RPK.
Gun
Range
Damage
RoF
Weight
Shots
Min Str
Cos
Notes
RPD
30/60/120
2d8
3
16.5
100
—
550
AP 2
The SKS rifle
The SKS was intended to replace the Mosin Nagant rifle in the Soviet Forces, but as production of the AK47 and its
sister rifles increased, the SKS was soon phased out of service.
Gun
Range
Damage
RoF
Weight
Shots
Min Str
Cost
Notes
SKS
24/48/96
2d8
1
8
10
—
300
AP 2
S&W .38 Revolver
Gun
Range
Damage
RoF
Weight
Shots
Min Str
Cost
Notes
S&W .38
12/24/48
2d6
1
3
6
—
200
AP 1
CAR-15/XM177 rifle
The stats of the CAR-15 were printed in the official Tour of Darkness errata and are here repeated.
Gun
Range
Damage
RoF
Weight
Shots
Min Str
Cost
Notes
CAR-15
20/40/80
2d8
3
5
20
—
Military
AP 2
Lee-Enfield No. 4
Gun
Range
Damage
RoF
Weight
Shots
Min Str
Cost
Notes
Lee-Enfield
48/96/192
2d8
1
8
10
—
Military
AP 2
M14A1/Squad Auto - Clarification
The entry for the M14 has the stats for both variants of the weapon: The RoF 1/3 refers to the semi- and full-auto
capable versions of the rifle.
20
An adventure for 50 Fathoms
by Michael Schau
Introduction
While staying in port for some much-needed supplies and
repairs, the characters roam the town and explore the
local drinking holes. As the night draws to a close and the
characters are on their way back to their ship for a good
night’s rest, a man stumbles from a side-alley right into one
of the character’s arms. He’s bleeding from a severe gunshot
wound in the chest and clutches a rolled-up map in his right
hand. He shoves the map into any character’s hands while
rasping:
“Don’t let them g… Don’t you go… Stay… The apes…..”
And with that, he dies, just as a group of thugs come running
from the same alley from which he just emerged. The thugs
demand that the characters hand the map over and are
willing to resort to force should the characters refuse to do
so.
Shady types (1 per character): Use Typical Pirate stats
(Page 136 of 50 Fathoms).
Shady leader (1): Use Veteran Pirate stats, but make him
a Wild Card (Page 136 of 50 Fathoms).
The burglars will flee if they lose more than half their number
or if their leader goes down.
They will report back to their captain, Joseph
Porter, aboard the Dark Angel, a pirate frigate.
“We’re being watched!”
Examining the map reveals that it shows a rather
detailed area in the southern part of TorathKa. Several landmarks are noted, including
something called “Fountain of Life”.
If the characters decide to set sail to investigate
immediately, they will quickly find that they are
being followed by another ship, the Dark Angel.
(If the characters want to finish other business
first, don’t worry. Just have the crew of the
Dark Angel show up at the right moment. They
just found another way to get to the right place
somehow.)
The Dark Angel will only pursue, not engage—
unless given no other option.
Journey to the City of the
Fountain
Once the characters reach Torath-Ka, they can
set out to find the Fountain of Life. Roll twice on
the Torath-Ka encounter table.
Following the instructions on the map (and
somehow always feeling like they are being
followed), they finally reach an ancient,
crumbling city with a giant temple at its center.
That temple is the location of the Fountain of
Life.
Unfortunately, the ancient city is inhabited
by some ape-like creatures who are highly
intelligent and try to keep anyone away from
the Fountain Of Life by force, attacking any
human that enters the city. Have the characters
21
encounter two groups of attacking apes on the way to the
temple.
Guardians of the Fountain of Life
(1 per character) Wild Card
The Guardians of the Fountain of Life are a modified version
of the Mutant Ape found in Butch Curry’s Savage Beasts.
These apes are about 7 feet tall and covered in shaggy,
grey-white fur. They roughly resemble gorillas, but are more
upright. They also have larger tusks and bloodshot eyes.
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d8, Spirit d8, Strength
d12+1, Vigor d10
Skills: Climbing d8, Fighting d10, Guts d10, Intimidation d8,
Notice d8
Pace: 8”; Parry: 7; Toughness: 9
Special Abilities: Size +2, Berserk: If Shaken or
Wounded, the ape must make a Spirit roll at –2 or go
berserk (as per the Edge). Its Smarts drops to d6 (A) while
berserk. Leaping: The ape can leap 4”, +1” per raise, on a
Strength roll.
Gear: Claws (Str+1), Bite (Str+2)
The Showdown at the Temple
The characters should be able to make it to the temple in
the center of the city, only to find that Joseph Porter and his
crew have beaten them to their goal by mere minutes. While
his crew keeps the characters at bay, Porter himself takes a
drink from the Fountain of Life, hoping to live forever. Being
a true villain, Porter gloats for a couple of minutes, mocking
the player characters, but suddenly discovers the “gift” of
drinking from the Fountain. Porter rapidly changes into one
of those ape-like monstrosities that inhabit the city!
Realization dawns on the characters that all those apethings outside were once humans, too, most likely explorers
and adventurers like the characters themselves.
Just then another horde of apes attack and the characters
get the chance to fight their way out of the city along with the
hired guns. The apes will pursue them for about a mile or two,
but will soon return to the city, because they are magically
bound to the temple after drinking from the Fountain of Life.
(Wild Card) Ape / Guardian of the Fountain of Life
(6): see above.
(Wild Card) Changed Joseph Porter (1): use the
stats for a Guardian of the Fountain.
Crew of the Dark Angel (10): use Pirate stats (page
136 of 50 Fathoms).
Veteran Crew of the Dark Angel (5): use Veteran
Pirate stats (page 136 of 50 Fathoms)
Aftermath
Having discovered the secret of the Fountain of Youth and
with only newly-gained wisdom to claim as booty, the player
characters may decide to take down the Dark Angel. This
may be advisable if the PCs want to avoid being hunted for
the murder of Joseph Porter. The frigate has a remaining
crew of 20 (5 of them are Veteran Pirates), plus any survivors
from the city.
If the characters manage to capture the ship, they capture
the following booty, in addition to the ship: 1x Plunder and
1x Pillage.
22

The Fountain of Life

Transcription

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